Pat Neshek took the mound in the seventh inning days after his newborn passed away. / Paul Sancya, AP

by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

DETROIT -- Pat Neshek sat in the Oakland Athletics' bullpen for six innings Saturday night, trying to focus on the playoff game, but his mind wouldn't let him.

He was wearing an Athletics uniform for the first time in a week, but this uniform was different from the previous time he donned it.

This uniform had a black patch on the sleeve bearing the initials: GJN.

They stood for his son, Gehrig John Neshek, who was born on Tuesday and died 23 hours later, with the cause of death still unknown.

"I broke down,'' Neshek said of the honorary patch, "the second they told me they were going to do that."

Still shell-shocked, and numb from grief, he took the mound in the seventh inning Saturday night, in a game the Detroit Tigers would win 3-1 at Comerica Park.

He retired the only two batters he faced, ran off the mound, patting the arm patch in honor of his son, pointing toward the heavens, and frantically scanning the stands looking for his wife, Stephanee.

"It was definitely tough down there,'' Neshek said softly, his eyes moist. "I was thinking about him the whole time.

"It sounds so cliché, but it felt like he was looking down on me, helping me.''

Neshek broke into nervous laughter, saying the last pitch he threw, a slider that struck out Austin Jackson, was the best slider he threw all season.